Giving Compass' Take:

· Jessica Campisi discusses research urging schools to push back start times to allow students to get more rest and be more alert during class.  

· How can schools better serve the needs of students? What role can philanthropists play in improving the school experience? 

· Learn how longer school days could make learning more compelling and life less stressful.

A typical post-school day schedule includes sports practices, club meetings, hours of homework assignments and the inevitable distractions from too much screen time — all of which leaves learners, especially teenagers staying up until at least 11 p.m. The average U.S. public school start time, federal data shows, is 7:59 a.m., but health experts say these teens should be sleeping at least 8 hours per day. As teens, they're going through puberty that keeps them up later and forces them to need more sleep. But in many cases, that’s not happening, causing students to have a harder time staying focused, to perform worse academically, and to be more likely to have physical or mental health problems.

Without enough sleep it, according to the National Institutes of Health, memory, decision-making skills and alertness go down. Students can become more irritable and more likely to struggle paying attention, which, in turn, impacts their ability to learn and absorb class material. Enter a later school start time, which districts in at least 46 states have adopted, says advocacy group Start School Later. Later school start times and more time for sleep are said to have physical and emotional benefits. The heart rate goes down, muscles relax and the rapid eye movement (REM) cycle allows one to reach a deep sleep that can even boost the immune system, Harvard Medical School says. It promotes an active, healthy lifestyle and lowers the risk of mental health issues like depression or bipolar disorder. Sleep can even boost the economy by more than $80 billion, according to the RAND Corp. Studies also say there’s a link between early school start times, tardiness and disciplinary issues.

Read the full article about the school day by Jessica Campisi at Education Dive.